Huge thanks are due to the folks at Robert Hale Publishers for giving me the opportunity to fulfill my ambition of actually writing a book – never mind the fact that it just so happened to be about one of the greatest characters ever created.

It really has been a fantastic experience putting Holy Franchise, Batman! together; for a start, I got to revisit the entire history of Batman, and sitting through repeat viewings of Batman & Robin was a small price to pay for the chance to spend countless hours immersing myself everything else. Well, except maybe Legends of the Superheroes. Oh, and Catwoman.

If I can take one thing from this, it’s confirmation that – at its best – Batman: The Animated Series really is the pinnacle of the Caped Crusader’s screen career. It’s also quite possibly the greatest animated series ever made. Apologies to any Christopher Nolan fans, but as much as I love Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, he’s not quite there. Not yet, anyway…

Plenty of other thanks are due of course, not least to my girlfriend Amie for her invaluable help with research, along with some fine Batman sites, including Bill Ramey at Batman-on-Film, Matt MacNabb at LegionsofGotham and James Harvey at WorldsFinestOnline.

I’d also like to express my gratitude to anyone who has stumped up their hard-earned cash to pre-order a copy, and to anyone who plans to get the book in due course. I hope you enjoy reading it.

And lastly, if you’re going to the London Film & Comic Con next weekend, you’ll be able to pick up a copy of Holy Franchise, Batman! from Hale’s stand on Saturday and Sunday. I’ll also be there on the Saturday, so do stop by and say hello. We can speculate on The Dark Knight Rises and marvel at the 1989 Batmobile together.